Introduction

Summary

Groups St Andrews 2001 in Oxford was another highly successful conference in the continuing series. The conference, held from 5 August 2001 to 18 August 2001, was attended by 230 mathematicians from 35 countries. The lectures and talks were given in the Mathematical Institute of the University of Oxford. We thank Lady Margaret Hall, St Anne's College, The Queen's College and Merton College for providing accommodation. We also acknowledge with gratitude the financial support of the Edinburgh and London Mathematical Societies. The Mathematical Institute of the University of Oxford generously made lecture rooms available, and supported the conference in various other important ways.

The organizing committee consisted of CM Campbell (University of St Andrews), D P Groves (Merton), R P Martineau (Wadham), P M Neumann (The Queen's College), E F Robertson (University of St Andrews), G C Smith (University of Bath), W B Stewart (Exeter) and G A Stoy (LMH). Administrative support was provided by Jan Campbell and Maureen White.

The main speakers, who were invited to give a series of talks, were Marston D E Conder (Auckland), Persi Diaconis (Stanford), Peter P Pálfy (Eötvös Loránd, Budapest), Marcus du Sautoy (Cambridge), and Michael R Vaughan-Lee (Oxford). As has become the tradition, all these invited speakers have written substantial articles for these Proceedings. All papers have been subjected to a formal refereeing process comparable to that of a major international journal.